Agape

CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Larry Dorsey (10-10, third season) LAST TERM: 3-7 (3-3 in 1B-5) PARTY NOMINEES: QB Joe Celestine (5-10/180, Jr.); OT/DE Michael Brown (6-1/215, Sr.); C/DT Richard Bullard (6-0/235, Soph.); OT/DE Delroy Steele (6-2/260, Jr.) EXIT POLL: With a team that is both new and young, there could be some adversity. The Saints have a lot of experience on the offensive and defensive lines. Five of Agape's first six games will be on the road, not counting a kickoff classic Aug. 29 at Orlando Lutheran.

Serge Trezy usually gets two reactions when he tells people where he went to high school. The first usually goes something like this, “What is Agape Christian School?” The other reaction is a bit more laughable for those, like Trezy, who have attended Agape, a small Baptist church-affiliated private school at the corner of Silver Star and Hiawassee, right in the heart of Orlando's Pine Hills area. “Yeah, they'd be asking, 'What, you have money?' ” Trezy laughs.

Orlando's Agape Christian Academy is on for its first football game Friday night after submitting a certificate of liability insurance to the Florida High School Athletic Association. The Saints host their season opener against another first-year program, Calvary Christian of Ormond Beach, on Friday night at Jones High School. Coaching chatter New Bishop Moore girls volleyball coach Piper Morgan is a former all-conference UCF player who returned to Orlando after two years coaching club volleyball in her home state of Ohio.

Agape Christian's bye week no longer is a bye week. On Monday, the Saints (2-0) received an invitation to play Big Valley High School (1-0) from Bieber, Calif., in a football game this Friday at 7 p.m. at Disney's Wide World of Sports. Agape Coach Larry Dorsey said he accepted the invitation. The Saints are filling in for Jacksonville Shekinah Christian, which was originally scheduled to play the Cardinals. However, Shekinah -- which had a change in athletic directors -- had a conflict in its schedule with games scheduled against Big Valley and Warner Christian for Friday.

SUMMARY: Senior QB Tarrick Bridges threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns, including a 27-yard touchdown to junior Courtney Khouri with 36 seconds left as first-year program Agape Christian Academy (4-0) stayed unbeaten with a 26-20 win at Father Lopez (0-3). STAR: Khouri finished with three catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns and also intercepted two passes in the final minute. KEY STAT: Bridges averaged 43 yards on seven completions.TURNING POINT: Khouri intercepted Luke Kenzik inside 40 seconds and then caught the game winner.

The home of Agape Ministries, a Christian social agency, has been bounced around the Golden Triangle since it was organized in 1989.But those days are gone now. A Lake Mary family gave the ministries an entire city block in downtown Eustis.The ministry has been given the 700 block of South Bay Street, most recently the home of Advantage Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth. The buildings on the property were built for Joe Creamons Chevrolet in 1960.The land was given by Willett Properties, Inc., of Lake Mary.

DELAND -- They come for a hot shower, a kind word or help navigating the complicated bureaucracy of social services. The men and women who visit Agape Clubhouse are the mentally ill who have no place else to go. They don't have the ability to obtain or hold a job. Before the clubhouse opened, they wandered the streets of downtown DeLand. Linda Brown started the clubhouse in the basement of First United Methodist Church two years ago. The registered nurse and social worker said she noticed that residents of Dixie Lodge were always hanging around without any activities to keep them busy.

Despite a run of early success in its first year on the football field, Agape Christian found out Friday night it's not quite on the level of a more experienced program. It's likely going to take more time to cultivate a consistent winner. That was the mantra Friday night at Jones High School's Booker T. Reddick Field for the rookie's out of Orlando. The Saints didn't match up with the tested St. Petersburg Keswick Christian Crusaders in a 52-14 loss. Despite the defeat, Agape Coach Larry Dorsey spotted the positives in his fresh squad.

DeLAND -- Jeff Shepherd came of age in the 1960s, a time when rock music and social activism were nearly inseparable. Those times faded with the go-go '80s. But the organizer of next week's Battle of the Bands for the Homeless hopes the contest will help raise awareness among young people about the plight of those living on the streets of DeLand. The show will pit up to eight bands against one another at the First United Methodist Church in DeLand, home of the Agape Clubhouse, which provides morning and afternoon meals, showers and other services to the area's homeless.

Orlando Agape Christian quarterback Dean Mosley Jr. (6-4, 205) has signed with NCAA Division I-AA Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y. He picked Wagner over offers from Clark College of Atlanta, New Mexico Highlands, South Dakota School of Mines and he also had received interested from Delaware State. One of the better 2012 QBs in Central Florida, Mosley threw for 1,852 yards and 18 touchdowns during his senior season, completing 68 percent of his passes (127-for-187)

Michael Pierre had no direction coming out of high school. He played four years of football as a running back at Orlando Agape Christian Academy. That kept him out of trouble. He eventually graduated from Winter Garden West Orange in 2010, headed nowhere, and probably fast. "I didn't have any plans. .. no college, no nothing. I was ready to give up," Pierre said. "When I was growing up it was kinda rough cause I had not guidance or no help, so I almost gave up. But as soon as my brother called me and the opportunity came, I took it. " Who knows where Pierre would have been today if his brother Ronald had not phoned him from Golden West Community College in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Agape Christian, which was excluded from football playoff contention in 2010 after failing to pay a fine on time, again finds itself in trouble with the Florida High School Athletic Association and ineligible for district play on the eve of Monday's opening day of fall practice for the 2011 season. Agape, which was regarded as one of the favorites in Class 2A, District 4 football, was stripped of full-member status for failure to meet an extended June deadline to become academically accredited by one of 14 agencies approved by the FHSAA.

Orlando Christian Prep, which went 24-6 and advanced to the state tournament, put three players on the Class 1A boys basketball All-State team announced Monday by the Orlando Sentinel and SourceHoops.com. Senior Adonis Burbage and junior Isaac Cohen made the second team and junior Jordan Montgomery was picked to the third team on a list selected with input from newspapers statewide. Also honored were guards Alex Sanchez and Kyle Schelvan of Faith Christian, which finished 25-6 with a hard-fought region loss to OCP, and high-scoring Agape Christian junior Anthony Thompkins.

By By Chris Hays and Buddy Collings | Orlando Sentinel, April 19, 2011

Call it a misunderstanding, call it what you will, but when Drico Johnson was introduced as a Dr. Phillips wide receiver when he won the position MVP at the Nike Football Training Camp on Sunday, it was a bit misleading. To be sure, there is nothing misleading about Johnson's MVP-level talent. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, however, remains a student at Orlando Agape Christian even though he and others have repeatedly said Johnson will be transferring to Dr. Phillips this spring. The obvious target date for Johnson would be to transfer to DP for the spring football session, which begins May 1. He would have to be an accepted transfer student with the Orange County School District and be at Dr. Phillips in official student capacity prior to May 1 in order to take part in spring football.

The cat is out of the bag. It’s a big cat. A Panther to be exact. If no one knew who Drico Johnson was before Sunday’s Nike Football Training Camp on the Florida State campus, they will be hearing more about him soon enough. College coaches who have had Johnson on their radar have begun to realize their worst fears. He’s no longer a secret. The Orlando Agape Christian wide receiver who has said all spring that he plans to transfer to Dr. Phillips High, was impressive on Sunday.

Orlando Christian Prep (16-3, 5-0), the state's No. 1 ranked 1A boys basketball team, wrapped up the top seed for the District 6 tournament, but it wasn't easy. The Warriors were down one point going into the final quarter before pulling out a 50-44 home win over Agape Christian. Olympia (17-5, 6-1) won a huge 6A, District 5 game, 48-46 at Wekiva (12-9, 5-3), on a 3-point shot by Derek Reese in the final minute. The victory means Friday night's Olympia at Dr. Phillips (16-4, 6-0)